


Zootopia: A Better Place

by theothercynic



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fantastic Racism, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 03:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11477343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theothercynic/pseuds/theothercynic
Summary: After being on the receiving end of an insulting assumption in the workplace, Judy is dismayed to learn that some of the ZPD still consider her a stereotypical bunny, at least when it comes to breeding habits. To make matters worse, her parents are less than understanding of her relationship with Nick, and have been trying to set her up with a buck back home.





	Zootopia: A Better Place

**Author's Note:**

> A short one-shot by a first-time author, so comments/feedback are appreciated. Set after the events of the movie, this story is an attempt to explore at least some of the themes of racism alluded to in the film, with a dash of feminist intersectional theory.

_A Better Place_

By: theothercynic

Warm afternoon sunlight filtered through the massive glass and steel edifice of the Zootopia Police Department’s First Precinct. The sun was breaking temporarily from behind a bank of clouds, and early summer temperatures meant that the office was still relatively cool and comfortable. The shifting angle of the light slowly inched higher, touching lightly on the single occupant of the shared work space that had been assigned to the newest (and smallest) members of the prestigious precinct. The contrast between the two halves of the desk reflected the dichotomy of its owners’ natures: predator and prey; fox and rabbit; nocturnal and diurnal. Organized chaos was opposed to strictly regimented neatness as drifts of paper threatened to cross the invisible borderline.

In the center of the rabbit’s fastidiously maintained half of the desk sat a single opened manila envelope, the sun slowly creeping up to highlight the enclosed forms carelessly scattered in a show of frustration. Most were crumpled, the top few stained with tears, and those closest to Judy were currently supporting the forehead of the gray-furred rabbit as she slumped in defeat. The words ‘Animal Resources – Form 1145A (Maternity Leave)’ could be seen on the upper corner of the topmost page.

Judy Hopps was well-known among her colleagues for her boundless optimism, her single-minded pursuit of her goals, and her dedication to making the city of Zootopia a better place – one which could truly be said to uphold its ostensible motto that ‘In Zootopia, anyone can be anything’. In attempting to make good on that motto, Judy had shattered stereotypes by becoming the first rabbit officer of the ZPD, working harder and showing more grit than many mammals twice her size. She always tried her best to conduct herself as a role model for other mammals who might have been inspired by her efforts to break out of the mold of a ‘token bunny’ officer, showing them that if a farmer’s daughter from Bunnyburrow could achieve as much as she had, then they could follow their dreams no matter what others thought.

It had been nearly a year since Judy had become famous for her role in rescuing 14 missing mammals during her first week as an officer, an act which had eventually led to uncovering and thwarting a criminal conspiracy by then-assistant-mayor Dawn Bellwether to foment speciesism and hatred between predators and prey. It was no exaggeration to say that Judy had earned her status as a hero cop in a spectacularly public rise to stardom. She should have been confident, accomplished, hailed as a trail-blazer and a fine example to mammals everywhere. So why did she feel as though the cheery sun was mocking her, a brilliant incandescent contrast to her dark mood?

 _If this is all I’m ever going to be seen as, why should I bother trying to be anything else?_ Judy shook her head to try and clear away the thought, sniffling and wiping away tears as she attempted to regain her composure. She started slightly as she felt the light touch of a sympathetic paw on her shoulder. From the corner of her eye, she saw a brilliant russet coat that could only belong to one mammal: her partner, Nick.

“Carrots? What’s got you so upset? Did my side of the desk finally invade and annex yours?” Nick grinned lightly and gave Judy's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. She felt him lay his chin on her head and nudge her ears to either side as he nuzzled her affectionately. He surveyed the “battlefield” of their desk from between her ears, and she could hear the easy, sardonic grin in his voice as he inspected the borders for any signs of aggression.

“I think we’re still in the clear, Officer Fluff. The peace is intact, despite a bit of saber-rattling from the western front.”

The ghost of a smile played across Judy’s face at the familiar nicknames and gentle ribbing. Nick never seemed to take anything too seriously, but she knew him well enough by now to detect the care and questions underlying his antics: _“Are you okay? How can I help?”_

When they had first met on opposite sides of the law, Nick calling her “Carrots” or “Fluff” had smacked of mockery and speciesist stereotyping. The con-fox had delighted endlessly in cracking jokes at her expense, especially when he could get a rise out of her about the apparent absurdity of an idealistic rabbit from the sticks making it in the big city as a police officer. They had been like oil and water, a classic pair of natural enemies seemingly doomed to conflict.

It had taken a while for them to understand one another across the divide of both their species and the law, as their respective experiences had driven Nick to embrace the stereotypes society held of foxes, and Judy to reject those of rabbits. Their entire philosophies had been at odds, with Nick cynically adopting the persona of an untrustworthy, shifty criminal, while Judy fought to gain acceptance as a strong and capable officer of the law. They had been forced to work together by circumstance, each disdaining the other as either naïve and headed for disappointment, or unwilling to try and be anything more than a caricature of their species. But as time had passed and the two learned more about each other, they had each been forced to confront some uncomfortable truths about themselves and their ways of navigating their social roles.

Despite her commitment to disproving speciesist stereotypes when it came to her own life, Judy had still harbored implicit prejudice against predators that she had imbibed from her parents and community. As for Nick, he had been hustling mammals, stereotyping prey, and playing into anti-predator prejudice because his formative years had been marred by traumatic discrimination by members of prey species whom he had considered friends. He had been afraid of trying to be more, to do more, because of the inevitable hatred and mistrust he had known he would encounter. It had taken the trust and friendship of a prey mammal like Judy to convince Nick that he could be anything more than the shifty fox society saw him as, and when she had inadvertently revealed her biases, their relationship had been strained to the breaking point. Luckily for the both of them, the two had managed to patch things up after Judy had apologized and begged Nick to join her on the ZPD as their first fox officer. Nearly losing him had driven home to Judy the importance of correcting her bias, and she intended never to hurt him or any other predator in that way again.

They worked well together despite their differences, and without each other, they wouldn’t have been able to change themselves and the world for the better by confronting prejudice in all its myriad forms. Nick made Judy want to be a better mammal, and she knew the feeling was mutual.

Now, Judy heard in the formerly insulting nicknames their whole shared history, and the hard-fought struggle they had undergone to become the most important mammal in each others’ lives. There was no one whose support she needed more at a time like this.

She sighed heavily and indicated the forms and envelope on her desk with a wave of her paw. “This arrived from Animal Resources today.”

Nick leaned over her shoulder and plucked one of the relatively intact forms from her desk, smoothing some of the wrinkles as he read. “Maternity leave? Uh… correct me if I’m wrong here, but my admittedly spotty understanding of biology was that the two of us can’t... you know, reproduce. And why are there so many?”

“AR must think that just because I'm a bunny, the only thing I'm capable of doing is pumping out kits every few months like clockwork. Either they don't know we're together, or they just don't think it matters. They're probably assuming that I'll just grab some random buck and do what comes naturally to bunnies once the breeding urge strikes.” Judy hated the bitter edge in her voice, but couldn't help herself as she felt tears beginning to threaten again. “They don't even know how _hard_ I worked to get here, what I had to endure from my family thinking I was nuts or foolhardy or just plain abnormal. I have to work twice as hard as other mammals to even get half as much credit, and everyone thinks I'll give up my career as soon as my biological clock starts going off. All I've ever wanted since I was a kid was to be a cop, and I'm a damn good one. I can't give that up.”

Nick's expression had softened from his usual sardonic grin to something gentler, carefully wrapping a paw around Judy's waist to press her to his side. “You shouldn't have to give it up, Fluff. Any mammal who knows you should realize that you're not that easily deterred. If and when you want a family of your own, you'll make it work _and_ be the best damn cop you could be. That's just who you are.”

Judy tried to take comfort in the close contact, but her whole body felt like it was deflating, as though the effort required to keep her ears and posture upright was just too much. “Anyone who knows me, huh? My own family doesn't even understand what I'm going through right now. My parents mean well, but they're just making it worse.”

Nick arched an eyebrow quizzically at the uncharacteristic resentment in Judy's voice. “What do you mean? I thought they supported you after your first case ended up making you a poster mammal for ZPD recruitment.”

“I.. haven't been entirely honest with you, Nick. My parents... they've been supportive of my career, but they haven't been quite so understanding of my choice in a romantic partner.”

Nick's paw on her waist tensed, and she could feel him trying not to prick her as his claws involuntarily pressed home on her skin. “I think I get where this is going. They're the ones who insisted you pack fox repellent in the big, _scary_ city.”

“I thought they were getting better, Nick. I really did. They even work with a fox now. But it's one thing to do business with a fox; it's another to know your daughter is 'doing the business' with one, so to speak.” Judy's lame attempt at humor made Nick's lip curl slightly, but she could see that it couldn't erase the sting of prejudice entirely. Judy knew he was never going to get used to being treated like a second-class citizen, despite how jaded and detached he had pretended to be until recently.

“We've been together for months, and they just think it's a phase. They're treating it like a sort of experimental fling I'll get over, once I meet some buck who'll give me 'what I really need', as they put it. They think that just because having kits is right for them, I won't be really satisfied until I have my own.”

Nick's voice was soft as he made the connection. “That's why this was bothering you so much. Strangers in Animal Resources making sexist, speciesist assumptions was something you could brush off, but the mammals closest to you – the ones who should have your back – are doing the exact same thing. Trust me, Carro-... Judy, I'd be devastated too. If I had any family left to speak of, I'd be fuming if they disrespected you like that. Only you can decide what's best in matters of the heart, and presuming to know what you want better than you do is a pretty crappy way of supporting your daughter.” Judy felt a surge of affection for the fox at Nick's deliberate use of her real name. She always knew he cared for her, but discarding the joking persona drove home how seriously he was taking this. He may have projected a facade of uncaring aloofness most of the time, but Judy knew that when the chips were down, he dug in his heels and fought for the mammals he cared about.

The sound of a text notification on Judy's phone caused both of them to jump. She freed it from her pocket, glancing through her messages until she arrived at the new arrival. A groan of frustration rose unbidden to her lips. “My parents were going to Muzzle Time me this afternoon during break. They're asking if I'm free now. And I know just what they're going to want to talk about. The same thing they've been hounding me about for months – finding a nice buck and having a 'respectable relationship'.”

Nick pulled her into an embrace, smoothing back her ears with one paw as she sighed dejectedly. “You know, you can just ignore them,” he joked. “It's not too late to get assigned a 'huge new case' that's got you too busy to talk for the day.”

“No,” she shook her head, amused. “I'll have to face this sooner or later. I've been deflecting and humoring them, but I have to make them understand how much this means to me, and how screwed up their attitudes are. If I can't be with the mammal I love just because my relationship isn't 'normal' or accepted, then I'm just giving in to the pressure and letting society tell me who I am, that a 'real bunny' has to have kits of her own and be with another bunny.”

Nick's paws tightened around Judy as he knelt to put his muzzle nearly level with hers. Judy craned her neck slightly as he closed the gap, meeting her lips with his. He gave a soft, affectionate smile as he pulled back. “I know you'll make them see things your way, Judy. It took me knowing you for less than a week to make me see how _good_ you are. You never give up, you always try your best for everyone to be better, and you're not afraid to admit when you've been wrong or close-minded. You taught me that change starts with us, and if your family can't see that, they mustn't know the same Judy Hopps that I do.”

“I hope so, Nick. Here goes nothing.”

Judy selected her Muzzle Time app, scrolling contacts until she hit the one labeled “Mom and Dad”. Judy schooled her expression into something at least somewhat resembling familial warmth as she waited for the call to connect. It took only a few moments before the “calling” icon was replaced with the slightly worried visage of her mother, Bonnie.

“Hi, Mom. You wanted to talk?”

The care-worn older rabbit smiled and wiped her hands on her apron, a nervous habit she had never really managed to curb when talking to her wayward prodigal daughter. “Hey, bun-bun. Your father and I were just hoping to see how you were, catch up a bit. Did you get a chance to talk to that nice buck we told you about? He's only visiting Zootopia for a little while, and he was a bit starstruck when we told him you were the famous police officer he'd heard so much about. I think you'd really get on well together. He seems like such a sweet boy.”

Judy's ears flattened as she became agitated, but she tried to brush it off. “No, Mom. I know you're trying to set me up with a nice guy, but I've already met one. His name is Nick. You met at his graduation from the Police Academy.”

Bonnie sighed. “Judy, we've been over this. I know you're... infatuated with this fox of yours, but that kind of relationship is just asking for trouble. He can't give you a family, honey. Are you really going to be okay with that when you're older and settled down? What if you want children?”

“You do know that we can adopt, Mom. It's not like no one's ever done it before.”

“But they won't be yours, honey. Not... not really... you know what I'm trying to say. He's not going to know how to raise a bunny properly, or you how to raise a fox.” Bonnie looked flustered, perhaps a bit embarrassed at her choice of words.

Judy tried to take the unintended barb in stride, but she could feel her jaw clenching. “No, Mom. I don't know what you're trying to get at. Mind explaining it to me?” Bonnie grimaced, trying to get her bearings.

Before either of them could say anything else they might regret, Judy felt Nick smoothly pluck the phone from her hand, turning the screen to face his most charming con-mammal grin. Judy could tell he was putting on the mask of a smooth-talking fox again, defaulting to the persona he had perfected through years of putting mammals at their ease before hustling them.

“Hey there, Mrs. Hopps. Nick Wilde, at your service. Glad to hear you're concerned for Judy's romantic welfare in the big city. How's the family down on the farm?”

Judy's mother had the decency to look mortified at the realization that 'that fox of Judy's' had been privy to their entire conversation. “Oh, um... hello Nicholas. I... trust you've been well? Adjusting to officially working with Judy?”

Nick forced a grin. “Oh, couldn't be better. Now that I'm not being blackmailed for tax evasion, Judy's a great partner. Hasn't threatened to arrest me once. Though I can't say I'd mind her using the cuffs every once in a while...” A lascivious and exaggerated lick of his lips drove his intended meaning home, causing Bonnie's visage to tinge pink.

Judy could feel her own face heating at the same time as her mother's, absolutely dumbstruck at the fox's brazen innuendo. That was her _mother,_ for goodness sake! Had he never heard of tact or restraint!? What was he doing!? Nick turned to her and winked, obviously pleased with himself.

Nick barked out a laugh at the older rabbit's rapidly reddening ears. “Oh, that takes me back. Judy's ears used to get just that red and stick up like the dickens when I teased her. She's so used to me, I can hardly coax a blush from her now. In public, that is.”

Bonnie made an effort to collect herself, obviously determined not to let the fox get the upper paw in the conversation. “Oh, I've heard plenty like that, Nicolas. I do have several dozen married children. Just why you feel the need to embarrass her like that is beyond me, though.” She sounded indignant, if unsure what the fox's angle was.

“Oh, I'm sorry, Bonnie. I thought you'd heard it all before, being the wise matriarch and all. With the number of kits you've raised, I'd have thought nothing got to you like that anymore.” Nick's tone was gently mocking, poking fun at her reaction and apparently her wiser-than-thou world-weary attitude.

Bonnie shot back indignantly, “It doesn't bother me a bit. Just try not to shame my daughter, will you? She doesn't need you telling her mother what she gets up to.”

“So, you've got married kits just like us, eh? Not a whit of difference? That's why it doesn't bother you, Bonnie?” Nick was relentless, prodding and testing Bonnie's patience in an apparent effort to drive Judy's mother to distraction.

Bonnie hesitated, obviously smelling the verbal trap's jaws closing around her. Nick's grin became wider, apparently exulting in her discomfort. “You can't have it both ways, Ma Carrots. Either we're just like your other kids' couples, or we're not. Either Judy's private life is just that, _private_ , or it's not. I'm not supposed to shame her by bringing up what she 'gets up to' with her fox, but you can butt in all you want to tell her not to shack up with a predator and make her feel like you're ashamed of her yourself. Judy needs her parents to support her, not pass judgment on her love life.”

Bonnie's face steadily fell, her expression conflicted as she tried to maintain her ground. “That may be, but that doesn't change how others are going to judge her. I'm just trying to spare her the hurt of having to _fight_ everyone all the time. I know she loves you Nicolas, but can you really put her through that? And what about the children, if you adopt them? Do you want to put them through that as well? Anyone on the street is going to know that one of you isn't that child's real parent, either fox or bunny.”

Nick's chest heaved with a sigh, his eyes softening as he took in Bonnie's words. “I know you just want the best for your daughter, Bonnie, but think of it this way. Any child we adopt, we choose _them_. Is there any surer sign that we love each other, and our child, that we knowingly decide to take them into our home, and cherish them as ours? Whether we adopt a bunny like Judy, a fox like me, or something else entirely, we're going to love them no matter what. Just like you love Judy. That's what makes her yours, what makes a family. Love. We'll be that kid's real parents, in every way that counts.”

Bonnie's eyes were bright with unshed tears, and Judy could hear Nick getting choked up as he wound down. She gently took the phone back from him, wiping her own eyes a little as she planted a kiss on his cheek. “Alright, you smooth talker. I know you care, but I don't need you to fight my mom for me. Save the confrontation for the big, bad criminals.”

Nick grinned, surreptitiously wiping his eyes once the camera was off his face. “Just letting you have a breather, Officer Fluff. I knew you didn't want to hurt your mom's feelings. Figured you might want to tag back in soon, once you had calmed down a bit. ”

Bonnie was quiet a moment, trying to compose herself as she cleared her throat. She squared her shoulders, looking her daughter in the eye as she spoke again. “Judy, I may have been trying to protect you, but it was from the wrong things. I didn't take your feelings enough into account. Strangers judging you would have been hard, but your own mother doing it was worse. Even if you have to fight everyone to live the life you choose, you shouldn't have to fight me.”

Bonnie considered her paws a moment, lost in memory. “I made the same mistake as your father did when you left for the city, when he insisted foxes were shifty and not to be trusted. I'm sorry, Judy. I know that's not going to make it right all at once, but I'm proud of you for living up to your ideals. I still have a ways to go, honey. But I hope you'll forgive me for being an overprotective parent in the wrong area of your life, and for not giving you or Nick enough credit.”

Judy exhaled a breath she hadn't known she was holding, feeling her chest ache as though surfacing from a deep-sea dive. “I love you, Mom. I know you meant well, but I couldn't do this much longer. Downplaying how deeply I felt about Nick and trying not to hurt you was getting to be too much.”

Bonnie gave a brilliant smile at the mention of the fox. “That one's a keeper, Judy. I can tell how much he loves you, though I didn't want to admit it at first. Your mother's a bit stubborn, you know: that must be where you get the Hopps determination. I'll have to go and have a talk with your father. He might not be enthusiastic about Nick yet, but I'll make sure he comes around. I'll talk to you again soon, honey-bun.”

Judy whispered an “Okay” as she ended the call, too drained to muster more. She slumped against Nick in relief, grateful that he was there as both emotional and literal support.

Nick gave a huff from behind her as he wrapped Judy in yet another embrace. “Your mom was right about one thing. I'm not going to know how to raise a bunny if they're as emotional and energetic as you.” Judy could feel his grin against her ears, the usual teasing back in full effect.

“As long as our fox kit doesn't try to eat me, I think we'll manage.” She cracked back at him.

“You want two kids, Carrots? Challenge accepted. Though, I don't think we should give up trying for our own, biology and science be damned. Got plans for tonight?” The elbow she dug into his side was only mildly annoyed, but to Judy, that was what their love was like- unexpected, just a little painful, and it took her breath away.

 


End file.
